Bob DiNapoli with members of the Old English Reading Group at the University of Melbourne. Kate Mirabella is fourth from the right. (Georgia Moodie)

Beowulf, the epic poem set in Scandinavia, is arguably one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.

Each Tuesday at the University of Melbourne, the Old English Reading Group meets to read a bit more of the poem, which is 3182 lines long.

It’s slow going, because the group reads the poem aloud in Old English and discusses the nuanced meaning of each word.

But finally, after 3 years, the Old English Reading group has just finished reading Beowulf.

Dr Bob DiNapoli, the leader of the Old English Reading Group, and Katie Mirabella, self-confessed language nerd and the only person who’s been going along to the Beowulf readings since they began in 2011, discuss why this poem has captured their imagination.

I produced this story for Books and Arts Daily on ABC Radio National, and you can listen to the story here.